Gifts or presents are typically wrapped for the purpose of improving the experience of receiving them. The reasoning is that the wrapping conceals the contents of the package and maintains an element of surprise for the recipient whilst increasing the time taken to identify the contents.
The wrapping of presents is a time consuming but necessary procedure that varies in its difficulty depending on the shape of the contents to be wrapped. Typically wrapping paper is supplied either in sheets or on a roll. A suitable sheet of wrapping paper is cut to size to allow it to envelope the gift to which it is applied. The paper is typically plain white on one side and printed on the other with the intention being that the article is placed on the wrapping paper with the plain side facing the article. The wrapping paper is then gathered around the article and its extreme edges arranged to overlap one another to form a decorative tube of paper around the article.
It is conventional to then stick down the outer edge of the paper onto the folded under layer using adhesive tape. It is preferable to dispense the tape in advance to allow it to be easily applied, or to utilise a tape dispenser having a serrated edge to allow pieces of tape to be easily separated from the reel and then applied to the partially wrapped present.
After the formation of the tube of wrapping paper around the article, the exposed ends may be manipulated by folding them into a neat shape as tightly as possible to the dimensions of the article. Once suitably placed, the folded ends are again secured to the surrounding paper using adhesive tape.
More advanced gift wrappers can neatly wrap a regularly shaped article such as a cube or cuboid shaped box without the use of adhesive tape. This may be achieved by wrapping a single length of string around two of the dimensions of the package and tying its loose ends to one another in a bow. In other examples, decorative ribbon may be utilised instead of string but on each occasion, the fastening method is intended to retain the position of the wrapping paper relative to the contents.